After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
